Cambria/Dialogue
''Back to Cambria'' ''Previous'''' '' ''Next'' Dialogue Alana: Let's talk quality of life. I think we can all agree it is of value. I'll start. Red: Of course. Alana: I'm going on the assumption that Red is a Hephaestian terrorist, as his very creative code name would suggest. Hephaestians would have our grandchildren live like self-aware moles. Hidden away in habs, never to feel the wind or sun on our skin. To never walk, unencumbered, with grass beneath our feet or a sky above our heads, Red: Humans are incredibly smart and adaptable! So we can have both if we save Earth. On Earth we can have our grass and sky, while on other planets and moons we must minimize our impact. I'm suggesting that we use our skills to take only what we need. We can mine asteroids if necessary, we can plant ourselves on other planets to find materials we need but also to study it. Alana: Hephaestians would have us study every rock, every speck of dust, every spot of ice just to make sure we aren't interfering with nonexistent life forms! Red: While Gaians would have us believe we are the only beings of worth and that planets don't have intrinsic worth independent of their value to humans. In other words, it doesn't matter if a planet has had life or could possibly have life in the future. It doesn't matter if the planet can be made to hold us. The planet itself has value and should not be disrupted even if there is utility. Alana: Are habs not a disruption? By your own actions, you render your point moot! Red: I do not disagree that humans have needs that go beyond the bounds of Earth. I just maintain that nature has inherent rights which should hinder our work by forcing us to minimize the damage. It is for this very reason that Earth has protected parks. Everyone believes that Earth in its natural state has value! Why would we leave that belief on Earth and not take it to the stars? Alana: There is value in anything that has utility to us. That means cities, prairies, farmland, protected parks, rainforests, etc. The natural state has value because without it, humans couldn't thrive. But that which is manmade, such as cities and non-animal transportation, also have value. Enterprise, the economy, even our ability to innovate would be greatly reduced without our decision to remove natural habitation to make space for humans to live and work in close proximity to each other. I do not believe humans should make apologies for our sentience. Just as trees should make no apologies for existing, neither should we. Red: But we take it too far! We must tread carefully. Humans take steps without knowing the ramifications. And even when we see the magnitude of the ramifications we don't acknowledge our mistakes. We shrug as if to say "how were we to know?" We must act with precision and forethought! No, we should not apologize for living. Yes, we should acknowledge our abilities to safeguard not only ourselves, but those who cannot speak for themselves. Alana: Where do you stand, X? Options: * (1) Shouldn't we compromise? * (2) I'll show you. You (1): This is all good food for thought. Shouldn't we come to a compromise before moving forward? Alana (1): We don't have time! As I stated before, the construction of the engineering facilities is almost complete. They will immediately begin running commands based on whatever has been fed into Project Ishtar's algorithms. Red (1): Poor planning on your part. There were too many variables, which underlines my beliefs about your lack of prudence. Alana (1): It was a choice made for security reasons! The Sons of Hephaestus have terrorized us, they have sabotaged so much of our work. If we could automate this program then we'd have more manpower to focus on keeping the Sons away from our sites -- from killing our people and harming our work. Red (1): I am sorry for your losses, but this is neither the time nor the place to discuss what is fact versus what is propaganda. X, it's time for you to make your choice. You (2): Finally asking for my opinion? I'm a big believer in "seeing is believing," so I guess you'll just have to wait until after the Cambria sim to see who I agree with. Over and out. * Begin Cambria ''Back to Cambria'' ''Previous'''' '' ''Next'' Category:Dialogues Category:Historical Earths